Sign up for our newsletters to receive our Best of 2024 ezine!

Reviews by Michael Haughton

Order Reviews by:
Blonde Faith
by Walter Mosley
Blonde Faith by Walter Mosely (5/17/2018)
Let me first start with the writer, Mr Moseley I must confess that I have never read a book with so much clear cut opening since I have been reviewing books. So let me thank you for a good opening which i believe most readers will surely appreciate.

Easy which is the main character was out on a mission to find a run away girl name Chevette. I like the clear cut plots as I understood every details of the plot. i was not happy, though at the phrase used by the writer and here is one such case: I nursed a cream soda.

Why would the writer uses that term of phrase? I believe it was not used for the best. The writer could just have said drink slowly and it would have been fine.

Easy had a lover named Bonnie. But it seemed that he lost her to another man. Most person could relate to that in real life. As Easy did his job as a private detective he was constantly thinking of her and how could he lost her to some one else.

I find this novel very straight forward and easy to read with no large amount of complex phrases or terms. I was indeed impress with the way the writer express himself.

I therefore will used a brief summary of plot in this short paragraph: Easy's longtime lover tells him that she plans to marry another man. In a world of hurt, Easy strikes out on his own to try to find one friend, save another, and save himself from the pain that is driving him out of his mind. On his path he meets drug dealers, corrupt officials, every manner of criminal and con—and a woman named Faith who may hold the key to more than one life.
The Strings of Murder
by Oscar de Muriel
The Strings of Murder by Oscar de Muriel (5/14/2018)
To the main character Mr. Frey he had received a note from Wiggins, his assistant, urging me to go to headquarters. James Monro, the new commissioner, had demanded my immediate presence.

I deliberately started with this line cause it suited the frame of mind the writer wants the readers to have. These names of character shaped the story and plot. Which of course were cops and the killings had started. Funny enough though the writer add some amount of humor to the story which I'm grateful for.

I believe readers won't be so much bored when reading as do other books.

I want to though as usual examine the lines that seem to have err in phrases so that readers can have a chance to agree or not. My first line to look at is : "and then my heart stopped as I made out the crouching figures" while the line used may have its meaning to be just a phrase. It may not be the best choice. The writer could just say the heart seemed to stop. Just think about it.

I was taken aback to the fact that Lord Salisbury  who is their Prime Minister of England was well known to Frey a leading Detective. This puts a twist to the plot as most books don't.

This is a summary I had to utilize but plot was not bad at all. a good read for suspense minds. Frey reports to Detective "Nine-Nails" McGray, local legend and exact opposite of the foppish English Inspector. McGray's tragic past has driven him to superstition, but even Frey must admit that this case seems beyond belief.

A fairly good job by the writer as the humor of Scottish writer was obvious and that made it a good read. ratings 4 put of 5
Down the River unto the Sea
by Walter Mosley
Down the River unto the Sea by Walter Mosely (5/13/2018)
The story started off with the usual description of the layout of buildings and business places. In fact, one such businesses was owned by one of the main characters.

That's when Kristoff Hale offered a twenty-year renewable lease because another cop, Gladstone Palmer, had overlooked his son Laiph Hale's involvement in the brutal attack on a woman. This short paragraph I used was merely to address the two characters that was involved in a business deal with the main character. One such character was a cop that had a son which was in the wrong side of the law.

As I continued with the first chapter I got to know the main character Detective First Class Joe King Oliver, who it seemed had a way with the ladies which seem to get him into trouble at times just because he was just hot for them.

And this brings me to the surprised way the writer place every plot and intent at a fast pace. It gave me no room to be or feel bored. The minute Joe got to this lady that stole a car from her old boyfriend house, He had her in bed.

I liked the way the writer kept me wanting to read more and more. The part of Joe being toasted with urine in his cell was great action. But the only disappointment was the use of big words as it took away some of the excitement that a lay man word would not have done. For example the word tether.

Joe King Oliver was one of the NYPD's finest investigators, until, dispatched to arrest a well-heeled car thief, he is framed for assault by his enemies within the NYPD, a charge which lands him in solitary at Rikers Island.

A decade later, King is a private detective, running his agency with the help of his teenage daughter, Aja-Denise. Broken by the brutality he suffered and committed in equal measure while behind bars, his work and his daughter are the only light in his solitary life. A big success for Mosely and a good rating from me.
Dry Ice: A Novel
by Stephen White
Dry Ice by Stephen White (5/13/2018)
I started off my review by examining the prologue. the writer began with the usual climate stage of sun set and the light given off by the sun. This way the writer continued was kind of oblivious as it was some kind of work been carried out by a truck and excavator.

The work seems to be of digging a grave for some purpose so I was not pleased by the lack of information on what was the purpose.

The two main character was Alonso Cruz and Ramirez. which was doing the digging of the grave. However, I saw the first err of the writer in this line:"
Alonso'll bring 'em out in the morning – said nobody wants to sit on a chair covered with dew." it should be say instead if said as used in a dialogue.

I was taken a back to the many details of the grave business and I wondered if the writer knew if all this details if the lay outs and decor was really necessary. Especially when the writer uses words that most readers would not e end have a clue. For example: my feet and steel myself for the words "feng shui. This was tasteless to me.

I therefore had no more if an interest as I thought to continued to read this novel. I would not very much recommend this book to most readers. My rating was done on the prologue as I couldn't take it any longer(read). rated 2 out of 5
A Death of No Importance: A Mystery
by Mariah Fredericks
A Death of No Importance by Mariah Fredericks (5/8/2018)
I will start if with this excerpt from the first paragraph as it seem fitting to what I'm about to say about the writer's style of a so-called mystery book. Here goes

This narrative will be no different than any other. Only the specifics of what is forgotten and remembered will distinguish it as mine. I find this so strange for a novel to be in a writer's narrative as most stories don't.

I was therefore confused by this and I doubt the writer wanted the reader to. A mystery novel like this should never began in a narrative manner. This was disappointing.

As the story unfolds Jane who is the main character was a maid for two wealthy families in England. But one of the families died so Jane had to seek work so that how she got to be apart of the Benchley home as there maid.

I got a little annoyed by what the writer did by mentioning a book and the writer when describing the state if the house when Jane first entered the rooms. Here it goes Mary Roberts Rinehart's thriller When a Man Marrieswas spread-eagled on top. This was not good as most reader would think this book was only written to exposed books.

I will just end my review with this summary and then give my ratings. Here goes : But when Norrie is found murdered at a party, Jane discovers she is uniquely positioned - she's a woman no one sees, but who witnesses everything; who possesses no social power, but that of fierce intellect - and therefore has the tools to solve his murder. There are many with grudges to bear: from the family Norrie was supposed to marry into, to the survivors of a tragic accident in a mine owned by the Newsomes, to the rising anarchists who are sick of those born into wealth getting away with anything they want. 

Not much was said to be excited about but not a bad novel so my ratings is 3 out of 5
The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley
by Hannah Tinti
The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley by Hannah Tinti (4/25/2018)
"Hawley grabbed the Colt now and tucked it under his belt, then strung the rifles across his shoulder. He said, "Come on, troublemaker. which was his daughter Loo."

I had deliberately started my review of this book with this excerpt because both characters were the main plot of the book. I however, had some questions as to why the writer dwells so much on guns and type of guns. I don't know why the writer thought that educating readers on guns was important to the story line.

As the chapter named Hawley began. I realise it was to get the readers familiar with how he looked and what he stands for. I was kinda bored as this was the usual road writers used. The only line that intrigued me was when Loo touch the gun handle that he placed in the house.

The writer made it seem somewhat interesting in the story plot. But all the writer did was to dwell on Loo getting use to the rifle in her hands. It was too much to bear in mind with Loo plus his wife seem to be apart of his daily life. I believe the writer made the climax of the story very slow so it had me bored most of the time.

I recommended this book to any reader that has the patience to read up a story with slow climax in plot. Bear in mind it does have a good plot but too much time is spent on endless reasoning of little importance. The writer must take this into account what readers crave for.
Quiet Neighbors
by Catriona McPherson
Quiet Neighbors (4/23/2018)
Jude which seems to be the main character was wondering in a town call Newton Stewart. Evidently as curious as a child this town seemed forgotten as no noise of such was noticed. In fact the writer made it into a dead town fill with hotels and more importantly bookshops. The writer lives on the drive of Jude entering one such bookshop that made life for her a little different.

I will therefore, use a summary from the mind: Jude found one of the treasures when she visited last summer, the high point of a miserable vacation. Now, in the depths of winter, when she has to run away, Lowell's chaotic bookshop in that backwater of a town is the safe place she runs to.

As I have said again and again the use of big words can throw off the story line/phrase. One such word the writer used was"
pusillanimous" in response to the question ask by this man jade spoke to at the bookshop. I believe the right word that the writer should us is weak or shaky.

I get the feeling that the writer was all over the place with the story line and plot. Cause most readers would feel confused with the whole heap of imaginary lines and phrases. which I was not pleased with as I got really bored most of time while reading.

I keep wondering why the writer took so long to give the man name with whom jade was talking to." Then he held out his hand. "Lowland Glen. This was done way after he gave her his handkerchief to wipe her eyes and a back room to rest.

I still don't get what the writer was trying to do with this novel. This girl was a run away from her London home. As her parents were both dead but I was not impressed with this novel. I would caution readers in buying this book if they want a book with good knowledge of story plots. Low ratings I give to it.
How to Be Safe
by Tom McAllister
How to Be Safe (4/22/2018)
I will honestly state firstly that my opinion on this novel is in no way aimed at the writer as any personal attack, But merely to express my own closely held observations.

I will go on to add this brief summary I got from reading it, then I will tell my review with all honesty.

Recently suspended for a so-called outburst, high school English teacher Anna Crawford is stewing over the injustice at home when she is shocked to see herself named on television as a suspect in a shooting at the school where she works.

Though she is quickly exonerated, and the actual teenage murderer identified, her life is nevertheless held up for relentless scrutiny.

I found more than ever that the writer was illogical in expression and distorted in making phrases and plots. I was thinking that the writer wanted the readers to experience absurd reasoning which would help to frame the scenes.

But how can some of these thinking be. For example, In the first chapter called "April" the writer went on to say that the sun will fall right in the lake and make a splash and she saw it happened. Also the writer went on to say Anna heard the gun fired at school and it sounds like a car accident or a distant construction. When in fact she was home that day.

Calvin her brother used a curse word "mother fucker" when the reporter asked him about Anna and that was the only excited line that caught my attention. I'm not sure the writer was thinking of other readers that don't take kindly to curse words.
Do Not Become Alarmed
by Maile Meloy
Do Not Become Alarmed (4/21/2018)
It all began with a cruise on a ship out in the wild seas. This family decided to make good on having a good time on a cruise. The writer made it clear from the beginning and so readers knew that from this came various scenes and misfortune.

Here is a short summary of the names of characters and events which I will tear apart with my intellect: When Liv and Nora decide to take their families on a holiday cruise, everyone is thrilled. The ship's comforts and possibilities seem infinite with this family.

Love the nonstop buffet and the independence they have at the Kids' Club. But when they all go ashore in beautiful Central America, a series of minor misfortunes leads the families farther and farther from the ship's safety. One minute the children are there, and the next they're gone. This summary was perfect but is the writer's narration?

I like the writer's style of the story. It includes the kids which were very intelligent and smart. This story had good insight and I kept reading on and on. I found no errs and I was surprise by that as usually a story like this had few errs but the writer was cleaver enough and very intelligent.

The only little flaw I had was that none of the kids knew Spanish well enough to know what the strange men and women were saying. These kids were frightened and hungry but also need medication. I was pleased with the plot because no info was given about what the men were doing with a shovel in the forest. My rating is high and I recommended this book to all readers.
Mercury
by Margot Livesey
mercury by Margot Livesey (4/21/2018)
I deliberately entered my review with this summary clearly displayed in the next paragraph below. Because scrutinizing the writers way of telling how a story plot is done. Must be seen clearly as i will go through each paragraph with open eyes.

Donald believes he knows all there is to know about seeing. An optician in suburban Boston, he rests assured that he and his wife, Viv, who works at the local stables, will live out quiet lives with their two children. Then Mercury - a gorgeous young racehorse - enters their lives and everything changes.

For me the the writer went on to explain the different stages of Donald life. From his school days and how he got to meet his current wife Viv. The writer also went on about the moving of his parent and the way had developed between them. Interesting to say but I never got much romantic idea from the writer.

Some words use by the writer was unnecessary as most people would not know most of there meaning.

To be honest this book was kind of boring. I never really get much excitement out of it. Maybe it was because most of the story narration was based on irrelevant logics. They maybe too much emphases place on places, the children and his parents. Honesty my ratings will be low. But a good read for individuals who just want to read a book.
The Last Mrs. Parrish
by Liv Constantine
The Last Mrs. Parrish (4/20/2018)
The writer had a good imagination cause to start like this was brilliant. Liv started the story plot in a gym. I was impressed by this. With the main character name Amber trying to be coy by going to this gym every day to get a work out. She finally score by getting her way with her prey which was Daphne Parrish.

However I will begin with my first writer's err here: " "You're reading is magazine?" the woman said" this line was bad it should be you're reading this magazine? or you only read magazines? There is no doubt that phrases must be used correctly or grammar will remain poor.

No doubt the writer has a good knowledge of writing skills and I was more than impressed. But why did the writer used this line knowing well that the conversations she had with Daphne Parrish was not over as yet at the coffee shop. This was the line:" Later that evening Amber lay in a bubble bath, sipping a glass of merlot " This was a err I believe the writer made as the next paragraphs had all the conversation laid out with both persons.

Amber's envy could eat her alive ..if she didn't have a plan. Amber uses Daphne's compassion and caring to insinuate herself into the family's life - the first step in a meticulous scheme to undermine her. Before long, Amber is Daphne's closest confidante, traveling to Europe with the Parrishes and their lovely young daughters, and growing closer to Jackson. But a skeleton from her past may undermine everything that Amber has worked towards. Great writing i supposed and I recommend this book to book lovers.

With shocking turns and dark secrets that will keep you guessing until the very end. This was a summary i used but i didn't have to guess the end as it was obvious. I wont tell you, you got to read yourself.
Coffin Road
by Peter May
Coffin Road by Peter May (4/19/2018)
The writer started off pretty good with what appeared to be a female laying unconscious on a sea bed or shore. the began to describe her breathing and the way she felt. She was not in a bad shape it appears.

My first displeasure was this big word trepidation. some words are OK to be used to bring light and phrases to story lines or plot but this word is definitely out! The writer could have used a more easy phrase like despair or fearful feeling.

" I have no sense of 4 Peter May " I had no idea what this line phrase really mean. I wonder if the writer had any clue to know if all his readers had knowledge of this phrase. I certainly didn't and I presumed others too. The writer could simply use this: no sense of time or day.

Meanwhile, homicide detective George Gunn makes the rough ocean crossing to a remote, sea-battered lighthouse on a rock in the northern Atlantic, twenty miles west of the Outer Hebrides, to investigate a brutal murder. Despite its isolation, the tiny island has seen its share of tragedy: more than a century earlier, three lighthouse keepers disappeared, never to be seen or heard from again

When one is distorted or not fully aware of there surroundings. How in God's earth one can tell of these simple things around one's self:" several inches of gold trapping light from the window to give it an inner glow" that's the line of a distorted individual. I think the writer is so wrong on this and needs to backtrack. Especially with pain in one's head.
my ratings is at least 3 out of 5
Winter Sisters
by Robin Oliveira
Winter Sisters (4/18/2018)
I think the writer started great with introducing the scene. Further explanations reveal the plot lining. but as I keep saying with the use of word to bring out phrases are some times used wrongly. this line was no different."
In concession to the snow, they wore boots" why would the writer use such word as concession in this instance, it should be due to the snow they wore boots.

" Their parents were similarly attired: boots in lieu of lighter, leather shoes, a woolen coat for Bonnie. why does the writer keep using wrong words as phrases because : in lieu was not even a perfect word. it should be just the same as.So I was disappointed.

The writer could have written this line in a more suitable way:"
Their farewell on the morning of March tenth at the school doors"the date should be written as march 10.These writing style of the writer affected my ratings a lot.

It was a total waste of time for the writer to explain the different city buildings and road ways.As this adds nothing to readers minds.For example Manhattan city and Habor.

New York, 1879: After an epic snow storm ravages the city of Albany, Dr. Mary Sutter, a former Civil War surgeon, begins a search for two little girls, the daughters of close friends killed by the storm who have vanished without a trace. 

Mary's mother and niece Elizabeth, who has been studying violin in Paris, return to Albany upon learning of the girls' disappearance - but Elizabeth has another reason for wanting to come home, one she is not willing to reveal. Despite resistance from the community, who believe the girls to be dead, the family persists in their efforts to find the two sisters. My rating is 3 out of 5
The Force
by Don Winslow
The Force by Don Winslow (3/22/2018)
As I sit back and read, it brought to mind the many bad and indifferent news I get from the New York Times and other media about the NYPD. I like like the fact that the writer made good on making the novel plausible.
The acclaimed, award-winning, bestselling author of The Cartel--voted one of the Best Books of the Year by more than sixty publications, including the New York Times--makes his William Morrow debut with a cinematic epic as explosive, powerful, and unforgettable as Mystic River and The Wire.

Our ends know our beginnings, but the reverse isn't true . . .

All Denny Malone wants is to be a good cop.

He is "the King of Manhattan North," a, highly decorated NYPD detective sergeant and the real leader of "Da Force." Malone and his crew are the smartest, the toughest, the quickest, the bravest, and the baddest, an elite special unit given unrestricted authority to wage war on gangs, drugs and guns. Every day and every night for the eighteen years he's spent on the Job, Malone has served on the front lines, witnessing the hurt, the dead, the victims, the perps. He's done whatever it takes to serve and protect in a city built by ambition and corruption, where no one is clean--including Malone himself.

What only a few know is that Denny Malone is dirty: he and his partners have stolen millions of dollars in drugs and cash in the wake of the biggest heroin bust in the city's history. Now Malone is caught in a trap and being squeezed by the Feds, and he must walk the thin line between betraying his brothers and partners, the Job, his family, and the woman he loves, trying to survive, body and soul, while the city teeters on the brink of a racial conflagration that could destroy them all.

Based on years of research inside the NYPD, this is the great cop novel of our time and a book only Don Winslow could write: a haunting and heartbreaking story of greed and violence, inequality and race, crime and injustice, retribution and redemption that reveals the seemingly insurmountable tensions between the police and the diverse citizens they serve. A searing portrait of a city and a courageous, heroic, and deeply flawed man who stands at the edge of its abyss, The Force is a masterpiece of urban living full of shocking and surprising twists, leavened by flashes of dark humor, a morally complex and utterly riveting dissection of modern American society and the controversial issues confronting and dividing us today.
  • Page
  • 1

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: Small Rain
    Small Rain
    by Garth Greenwell
    At the beginning of Garth Greenwell's novel Small Rain, the protagonist, an unnamed poet in his ...
  • Book Jacket: Daughters of Shandong
    Daughters of Shandong
    by Eve J. Chung
    Daughters of Shandong is the debut novel of Eve J. Chung, a human rights lawyer living in New York. ...
  • Book Jacket: The Women
    The Women
    by Kristin Hannah
    Kristin Hannah's latest historical epic, The Women, is a story of how a war shaped a generation ...
  • Book Jacket: The Wide Wide Sea
    The Wide Wide Sea
    by Hampton Sides
    By 1775, 48-year-old Captain James Cook had completed two highly successful voyages of discovery and...

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
In Our Midst
by Nancy Jensen
In Our Midst follows a German immigrant family’s fight for freedom after their internment post–Pearl Harbor.
Who Said...

The purpose of life is to be defeated by greater and greater things.

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Big Holiday Wordplay 2024

Enter Now

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.